The Brunel Vertical Engine is one of the biggest success stories to come off the production line at Mamod's Smethwick factory.
Since its creation in 2010 the Brunel has proved to be among the most popular models ever to be made by Mamod and this is set to continue into the future. It has become one of the company's signature models with buyers impressed with its boiler mechanism and this has helped to establish itself in Mamod's portfolio. It is set to revolutionise once again as it becomes available to purchase in kit form.
When it came to designing the Brunel, Mamod had to think a little outside the box. The company has been successful with the SP2 and SP4 it needed a new product and something that would really capture the imagination of its buyers. While the designs of Mamod's models are not necessarily based on previous, the Brunel engine was a completely new idea and one that would go on to become a huge hit.
This 'Derwinton' type engine was totally different to anything Mamod had ever produced before and was the first engine to have a vertical boiler. However, its creation was not without its hitches as the company had to review numerous methods on how to ensure the boiler would not leak when in use. There were also some changed to the wheels which were first fixed to either O or one gauge.
Once all the little issues were ironed, Mamod released it to the public and has been impressed with the response with flocking to purchase this unique model. Following the success of the pre-assembled version, Mamod has now revealed plans to make the engine into a kit version allowing people to put this famous model together at home.
The benefits of a Brunel kit is that it would be the easiest of all current Mamod models to convert into a kit form. Staff explained that the success of it took many by surprise but buyers have been impressed with its unusual nature. There are not many models of its kind available on the market at the moment and not only that, it is a solid runner as well.
Although there have been many discussions about whether or not a kit form is actually released, should Mamod go ahead with the plans modellers will not need any specific tools to assemble it. Mamod has ensured of this by replacing the rivets with screws so all a person would need is a screwdriver.
One of the major benefits of a kit version of the Brunel as it gives people the freedom to create their own design. It removes the restrictions of simply using the configuration that Mamod set out however, the company stressed that it can not guarantee that it will run properly if the design is changed so advises users to be extra careful.
If released, Mamod is confident that the Brunel kit will help to continue the success story of the model which is regarded to be one of the most unique of its kind.